Diesel locomotive 112 457

After the Second World War, almost all electrified lines in East Germany were dis- mantled as part of the reparation payments to the USSR. Since renewed electrification seemed to be a long way off, Soviet diesel locomotives were to be used in light to medium-sized passenger and freight traffic. Because of delivery problems, it placed an order with state-owned VEB Lokomotivbau Babelsberg to develop the new class V 100. In 1967, the locomotive entered into series production at Hans Beimler VEB Lokomotivbau Elektrotechnische Werke in Hennigsdorf. The V 100 was designed by Jürgen Peters, who was also involved in designing the class V 180 locomotive. Peters also de- signed consumer goods and worked at the Central Institute for Design, which would eventually become East Germany‘s influential Department for Industrial Design in 1972.

Multiple minor revisions were made to the class V 100 to refine its technical systems and optics. More than 1,150 locomotives of the class were built, most of which were for Deutsche Reichsbahn, though some were exported to China and Czechoslovakia with a slightly modified design.